Trailer control



May 23, 193 c. J. MERSEREAU TRAILER CONTROL Filed June 29, 1938.

INVENTOR (.J Mersereau ATTORNEY Patented May 23, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claim.

This invention relates in general to a device for use in connection with trailers for motor vehicles, and in particular the invention is directed to a supporting wheel assembly incorpo- 5 rated with the tongue of a two wheel trailer.

At present, screw jacks and other similar supporting devices are employed to support the trailer tongue when detached from the motor vehicle, but such devices are subject to the oblo jection that when in use, it is extremely difllcult for a person to move the trailer.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a novel swivel wheel assembly for a two wheel trailer; the assembly being 15 mounted in connection with the trailer tongue and arranged for use to facilitate engagement or disengagement of the coupler, and to provide a tongue support which makes possible easy movement and control of the trailer when un- 20 coupled from the motor vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

25 These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawing similar characters of refer- 3o ence indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure l is a side elevation of the device in inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device in u operative position, the near side plate of the tongue being removed.

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 33 of Fig. 2. Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the forwardly 4o projecting tongue of the trailer I comprises a pair of transversely spaced steel plates 2 suitably secured at their inner ends on the trailer frame (not shown), and secured together at their outer ends by means of a metallic spacer block 3 and 5 bolts 4. A ball and socket coupler 5, of usual type, is used to connect the trailer with the motor vehicle, the socket element being mounted on the block 3 and the ball on the vehicle as is usual. I

50 A metallic block 8 is disposed between tongue plates 2 intermediate the ends of the tongue, and is fixed on a cross shaft 1 which is pivotally carried at the ends in the plates 2. The block 6 is thus mounted for pivotal movement in a 86 vertical plane. The forward edge of block 6 is formed as a segmental gear 8 which meshes with a pinion 9 fixed on another cross shaft I 0 journaled between the plates 2; one end of shaft l0 projecting outward beyond the adjacent plate and being formed as a nut, as at l l, to receive one socket l2 of a double ended socket wrench I3 of crank type.

The block 6 supports a swivel wheel unit which includes a wheel I4 journaled in a fork l5, and a stub shaft or spindle it fixed on and project- 10 ing from the end of the fork. The stub shaft l6 extends from beneath through a bore formed in the block 6 from its lower to upper edge and parallel to plates 2. A plurality of spacer collars ll surround shaft I6 between block 6 and fork l5, while a thrust collar I8 is secured on the shaft I6 above block 6. The upper end of the shaft I6 is formed as a nut, as at IQ, for engagement by a socket on socket wrench 13.

When in an inoperative position, as shown in 0 Fig. 1, the pinion 9 has been manually rotated, by means of wrench l3, in a direction to rock block 6 about its pivot and to swing the caster wheel rearwardly andupwardly until a portion thereof is disposed between plates 2 which are spaced apart to receive said portion. The device is held in such inoperative position by means of a pin 2| which is inserted in registering holes 22 through the plates 2 and block 6. This pin is preferably of the safety locking type which includes a pivoted locking element on the free end.

To place the device in an operative position when the trailer is to be uncoupled, the pin 2| is withdrawn from holes 22 and the block 6 run down to a horizontal position by means of the pinion and gear arrangement actuated by the wrench l3. When the shaft l6 reaches a vertical position, the wheel has engaged the ground and raised the tongue (as shown in Fig. 2) so that the coupler 5 can be disengaged with ease. The amount of lift is controlled by the number of collars ll disposed on shaft l8.

To prevent the gear from running off the pinion at the end of the lowering movement of the swivel wheel unit, a stop member 23 is mounted on the end of fork l5 in upstanding position and arranged to engage with the lower edges of plates 2 immediately below gear 8. Also, the block 6 is locked in a horizontal position, after the swivel wheel unit is lowered, by inserting pin 2| in other registering holes 24.

After the swivel wheel unit has been lowered and locked in place and the coupler 5 disengaged, the wrench I3 is removed from the end l I of shaft I0 and socket 20 engaged with the upper end it of shaft l6 as shown in Fig. 3. Thereafter the wrench is used as a. steering arm or tiller for the ground engaging wheel H.

With the improved assembly described above, a trailer when disconnected from the motor vehicle can be easily moved about and at the same time controlled in its direction of movement as when moving the trailer into a curb or to the motor vehicle for coupling therewith.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such, deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. A trailer tongue control assembly for a trailer tongue including laterally spaced plates, said assembly comprising a block pivoted between the plates for swinging movement in a vertical plane, a segmental gear on one end of the block, a shaft extending between the plates adjacent said gear, a pinion on the shaft and meshing with the gear, one end of the shaft being exposed and formed for cooperative engagement with a socket wrench, and a swivel wheel unit including an upstanding spindle, the spindle extending upward through the block and being journaled therein.

2. An assembly as in claim l including stop means to limit movement of the wheel unit beyond a substantially vertical position in one direction.

3. A trailer tongue control assembly for a trailer tongue including laterally spaced plates, said assembly comprising a block pivoted between the plates for swinging movement in a vertical plane, means to swing the block, a swivel wheel unit including a yoke and an upstanding spindle, the spindle projecting through the block from beneath and being journaled therein, a removable collar surrounding the spindle between the fork and the block, a thrust collar secured on the spindle above the block; the spindle extending beyond the thrust collar and there arranged for connection with a steering member.

4. A trailer tongue control assembly comprising a supporting member, means to pivot the member on the tongue for swinging movement in a vertical plane, means to so swing the member, and a swivel wheel unit below and including a spindle journaled in the member; said member being adapted to swing in a direction to raise the wheel rearwardly and upwardly and the tongue comprising plates between which the member is disposed and spaced apart a suflicient distance in the plane of upward movement of the wheel to receive a portion of said wheel therebetween when the wheel is raised.

CHARLES J. MERSEREAU. 

